Sketchbooks
by thescissoring
Summary: Max lets Caroline see her artwork and fluff ensues. Maxoline.


**I should be working on my WIPs.**

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God, Max is such a slob, Caroline thought as she threw some of Max's dirty socks into a laundry basket; they were everywhere. Somehow she and Max had ended up with different schedules, and she decided to take advantage of the day off and clean the apartment. Well, try to clean the apartment. It seemed no matter how much she scrubbed, tidied, or swept their home was never truly clean. At first it had really bothered Caroline that she was living in a constant state of disorganization, but eventually she had had to let it go. That didn't stop her from trying to get Max to clean up after herself though. And truthfully, Max wasn't all that messy, she was just really not good at staying organized. Caroline brought the laundry basket into Max's room and surveyed the area. Obviously under Max's bed was the worst, and while Caroline was reluctant to come in contact with the floor, she knew it had to be cleaned. She pulled her hair into a bun and got to work.

Among empty beer bottles and boxes of stuff, there were even more dirty socks, and Caroline rolled her eyes at the sight of them. She was willing to bet that Max just bought more socks when she couldn't find any instead of looking for them. She found at least twenty socks, making a mental note to dump them on Max's bed once they were clean. Maybe then she could convince her to actually put them away. She moved the box of gnomes, an old pizza box (she didn't dare look to see if there was anything left in it), and even more socks, revealing a large, flat box of art supplies. Caroline's heart swelled at the idea of Max pursuing something else that she was passionate about. Curious to see what was in the box, Caroline grabbed a hold of it and shuffled out from under the bed.

Caroline sat cross-legged on the floor and rummaged through the box. There was a carton of oil pastels that looked expensive and well used; Caroline made another mental note to see if she could try and find nice ones that weren't too expensive. Max had neat canvas rolls of paintbrushes, palettes covered in dried watercolors, and multiple boxes of paint tubes. Caroline briefly wondered how and where Max had gotten it all, but figured she'd just collected them over the years. What really caught Carolines attention was the sketchbooks lining the bottom of the box. There were ten or so, all with a year neatly printed on the cover. Caroline picked up the book labeled 2013, her hand poised to open it, but she hesitated. Was this a total violation of Max's privacy?

Yes, she answered herself. But still… she was almost desperate to see what was inside. She didn't think she had ever seen any of Max's artwork, save for the occasional offensive doodle. She dropped the book back into the box and shoved the whole thing away from her. To distract herself, she kept cleaning, putting all of the dirty clothes she found into bags to bring to the laundromat (she was almost certain all of Max's socks would be a whole load by themselves). All the liquor bottles went into another bag along with the pizza box and various snack wrappers. Under the bed looked much cleaner than it had before, but Caroline decided to stop before Max got home. She put gnomes back where they belonged, the art supplies too, and left the room [almost] the way she had found it.

Caroline got in the shower after putting the bags either in the trash or by the front door to bring them to the laundromat the next day. Max's floor wasn't particularly dirty, but Caroline was sure some questionable substances had come in contact with it at some point. She absentmindedly started washing her hair, unable to keep her mind off of what might be in those sketchbooks. Maybe Max, who only rarely shared her true feelings with anyone, let everything out with art, and maybe that was why there were so many books. Caroline sighed and finished washing quickly. She was getting out of the shower when she heard Max's key in the door.

"Max!" Caroline called from in the bathroom, pulling a towel around herself and running into the living room.

"What? God you're like a puppy." Caroline just grinned and gestured around the room.

"Doesn't it look great in here?" Max took a look around and smirked.

"You cleaned again," she said. "I knew I kept you around for a reason."

Caroline followed Max into the kitchen, deciding that since Max seemed to be in a good mood, it was as good a time as any to tell her where else she had cleaned.

"I kind of cleaned under your bed, too." It came out rushed and sort of panicky, but Caroline breathed easier when she saw Max wasn't angry as she had expected her to be.

"Okay," Max said, eating another potato chip straight from the bag. "At least now I don't have to."

Caroline was confused.

"You're not furious?" Caroline asked, not sure if testing her luck was a good idea.

Max shrugged.

"Not really. You've already seen the gnomes, and I was going to show you the sketchbooks eventually… Did you look at them?"

"Almost."

"Ha! I didn't see that coming. I totally thought you would… Do you want to?"

"Sure."

Caroline was surprised. Truthfully, surprised wasn't even the right word. She had been so sure that Max was going to be furious, that the idea of her being okay with it had never even crossed her mind. She quickly put on her Eiffel tower pajamas, not caring that it was barely eight o'clock, and went into Max's room. Max was already sitting on her bed and out of her work clothes, now wearing sweatpants and an old T-shirt. Caroline noticed Max had abandoned her socks on the floor and felt a twinge of frustration; she let it go, joining Max on the bed. The box of art supplies was sitting in front of them.

"Go ahead pick one," Max said, hugging her knees to her chest. She was a little nervous about Caroline seeing her artwork, but Caroline knew basically everything about her anyway, so she tried to let it go. But Caroline just had to pick up the book marked 2013. Max tensed up and hoped Caroline would pick another one.

Caroline opened the book, shocked when she saw her own face looking up at her. she flipped the page and saw another drawing of herself. The next page was the same, another picture of her, this time with Max. she recognized it; it was a drawing of a picture Earl had taken of them on New Years Eve the year before.

"Max… what is all this?"

Max pursed her lips and shrugged.

"Don't get cocky or anything but you're pretty and fun to draw… especially when I draw you hanging over a shark tank." She sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't pick that one."

"It's the one I almost opened earlier… Max, I'm so flattered. You're an amazing artist, I mean it."

"Oh shut up," Max dismissed her. She was embarrassed from the praise and half hoping half dreading that Caroline would catch on to the major crush she had on her.

"I do mean it! You're so talented."

"Thanks."

Caroline grinned and flipped the page, her smile faltering slightly. In the bottom corner of a page was a simple sketch of her and Max kissing. It made her feel things that she only let herself feel in the middle of the night when she was alone…

"Max-"

"I forgot that one was in there," Max said, snatching the book from Caroline's hands. She blushed furiously.

"No, it's okay… I liked it."

Caroline could hear Max grinding her teeth, something she only knew her to do when she was frustrated.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked, touching Max's shoulder.

"Not really."

Caroline leaned forward and kissed Max's cheek.

"Now?"

"A little."

Caroline laughed and pulled Max close to her, kissing her softly.


End file.
